029 – Deep se…river?! ecosystems with Melanie Stiassny

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/029-deep-rivers

Everyone has been very busy this month with Thom and the Professor officially describing a new species of blue snailfish, alongside their adventures in Singapore. We hear from one of our old students about the work he’s been doing in deep freshwater ecosystems, which got us thinking about these unique environments and the kind of species that live there. We decided to throw one more curveball away from the deep sea and speak with Dr Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist who’s focused her research on the deep-water fish of the Congo River.

We couldn’t go an episode without discussing the latest deep-sea related conspiracy theories. And of course, we hear from Don about how freshwater affects sub manoeuvres.

Check out our podcast merch! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron and a much-anticipated new design...

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast, @armatusoceanic

Keep up with the team on social media

Twitter:

Alan - @Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley

Georgia - @geeinthesea

Instagram:

Georgia - @geeinthesea

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Glossary

Acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) - a device that uses sound waves to measure the speed and direction of currents throughout the water column.

Delta - a landform shaped like a triangle, where the mouth of a river flows into an ocean.

Halocline - a vertical zone in the water column in which salinity changes rapidly with depth.

Giant Isopod - (Scientific genus: Bathynomus) carnivorous crustaceans which are abundant in the deep-sea.

Giger - H.R. Giger an award-winning Swiss artist who designed the creature from the 1979 sci-fi horror film ‘Alien’.

Rapids - sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.

Sargasso Sea - a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre.

Links

Alans TEDx talk

The art exhibition that Alan and Thom visited in Singapore

John Quentin’s new deep-sea sci-fi novel, The Verdansky Ultimatum

Alans paper on hadal connectivity

Dr Thom’s new paper on the blue hadal snailfish

Eel love, Macduff aquarium releasing their eels

Lake Baikal sculpins!

Crocs on Helium story and video

Melanie’s work and recent research

Melanie’s recent paper on the discovery of a new species of air-breathing catfish

Melanie’s article on her work in the lower Congo

Melanie’s research on the deep river Congo

Fishes in the lower Congo River. An extreme case of species divergence and convergent evolution

Dying Fish Revealed Congo Is World's Deepest River

Videos:

https://vimeo.com/channels/nsf/24733777

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tObYa9KQb8w&feature=relmfu

Melanie’s TEDx talk

Credits

Oceanchild - Spidergawd

Youtube

Spotify

Selti - Skatatacama

Youtube

Spotify

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

Image courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History/Melanie Stiassny